Watch how Atelier Crenn makes carrot jerky and egg sheets [Video]

Last month, Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn spoke at the annual StarChefs congress in New York, where she presented two techniques that she and her team use at their San Francisco Michelin 2-star restaurant: A carrot jerky and an egg sheet.

Both videos demonstrating the techniques, produced by Ryan Donahue, are visually striking and shown in full below.

For the carrot jerky, Crenn says that they developed the technique with carrots, but are now working with parsnips, salsify and beets.

“We wanted to focus on the vegetable and find a way to create a texture that was familiar with people and also healthy and celebrate the vegetable,” Crenn notes.

Then there’s the egg “sheet.” Basically, it functions as a versatile ingredient — almost a tool — in the restaurant. The impetus for it was to create an egg “noodle” or wrap without using any hydrocolloids, and since it’s essentially pure egg yolk, it’s gluten-free as well.

Both videos present an interesting case study of how a single ingredient can be manipulated by simple techniques like salt, heat and pressure. It also shows you how much meticulousness and labor goes into a single dish element in many haute restaurants.